The Prince Warriors

by Priscilla Shirer

  Levi shrugged. They looked from one to the other, not speaking, as if they already knew what the others were thinking. Then, as if on cue, all three broke into nervous laughter. The awkwardness they’d felt a moment ago dissolved.

  Together they walked over to a picnic table and sat down. Levi leaned his board against the bench. Xavier pulled out his phone and showed Levi the app.

  “That’s weird,” Levi said. “I have that on my phone too.” He took his phone from his pocket to show them. “It just showed up yesterday. UNSEEN. I didn’t know what that meant, but then I saw it also had the Crest.”

  “Did you open it?” Evan asked.

  “Yeah. But it was just a lot of jumbled up images. I thought it was damaged. So I trashed it. But then when I looked at my phone this morning, it was back.”

  “Whoa,” Evan said. “Kind of like your boots. Maybe it can’t be lost.” He turned toward Xavier. “Open it, Xavi.”

  Xavier unlocked his phone and opened the app. They all waited tensely for something to happen, as if they thought they might get sucked down into the phone. They saw nothing but a series of strange patterns and symbols, just as Levi had said, like a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces mixed up. Xavier pressed the screen a few times, but the image didn’t change.

  “Weird,” said Evan. “But you know, it sort of reminds me of The Book—you know, the scrambled words. Ruwach had to unscramble them to show us our instructions.”

  “Maybe only Ruwach can do it,” said Xavier.

  “So what do we do—call him? How do we even do that?”

  “I think with Ruwach it’s more like a ‘Don’t call me, I’ll call you’ sort of thing,” said Xavier. They all laughed.

  “Whatcha doing?” Brianna suddenly plopped down at the table next to Xavier. She was wearing her signature pink hoodie, and her lips sparkled with a fresh application of lip gloss. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a thick ponytail. She smiled at Xavier, who smiled back. He shoved over into Evan to make room for her.

  “Check this out,” Xavier said, showing her his phone.

  “Oh yeah!” Brianna said. She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I thought I lost my phone when we—you know—but when I got back it was still in my pocket. Weird, huh? When I turned it on, that app was there. I never even downloaded it.”

  “Why do you think it’s called UNSEEN?” said Levi.

  “I guess cause that’s what Ahoratos is—the unseen world. It’s here, but we can’t see it, unless we’re there,” said Brianna.

  “Uh-huh,” said Evan, nodding, although he still looked slightly confused.

  “Did you open it?” Xavier asked Brianna.

  “Yeah, but it didn’t make any sense. So I just deleted it. But then it came back on its own!”

  “Same here,” Levi said. “We can’t get past the first screen.”

  “Let’s try doing it at the same time,” Xavier said. “Maybe that would make it work.”

  They put all three phones together and tapped on the app. All three apps opened at once. But the result was the same—nothing but strange patterns and symbols.

  Just then, Landon and his friends passed by, giving Levi a dirty look as he did. The kids hid their phones, in case Landon would get it in his head to steal them or break them or something.

  “He’s got it in for me now,” Levi said.

  “Something happen?” Xavier asked.

  Levi told the brothers about the encounter with Landon, Brianna adding many colorful details.

  “Whoa. So time went backward for you?” Xavier said. “And you got to do it again?”

  “Yeah. Didn’t that happen for you?”

  Xavier shook his head. “Well, maybe it did. We were both asleep.”

  “Do you think we’ll get to go back to Ahoratos?” Evan whispered.

  “I hope so,” Brianna said, secretly hoping their next visit wouldn’t involve a sand grobel or evil Maribuntas.

  “Hey, guys.”

  They looked up to see the dorky kid Manuel standing before them, smiling awkwardly. He was wearing an “Einstein Rocks” T-shirt and carrying a satchel. He pushed his glasses up his nose.

  “Hey,” Levi said. “Whassup?”

  “Can I . . . talk to you? Just for a second. I don’t mean to interrupt.”

  “It’s okay,” Levi said. He was kind of surprised. Manuel had never tried to talk to him before. Or, maybe he had, but Levi had been too busy with his own friends to pay any attention. Levi glanced over at his skateboarder friends, hoping they weren’t looking. Then he moved over so Manuel could sit next to him.

  “These are my friends, Be—Brianna, Xavier, and Evan.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Manuel said, setting his satchel on his lap.

  “Hey,” they all answered in return.

  “Thanks again, for yesterday,” Manuel said to Levi and Brianna. “That was really—amazing. And nice. I mean, no one’s ever done anything like that for me before . . .”

  “Yeah, it’s okay,” said Levi, shifting around slightly.

  “But I . . . well, I’m not quite sure how to ask this, but . . . there was something I saw when all that was going on that I wondered about. Here, let me show you.” He opened his satchel and pulled out a large, dusty book.

  “Hey, I have that book!” Evan said. The book had the Crest of Ahoratos on the cover.

  “Me too,” said Brianna. “How’d you get it?”

  “My mother gave me this book,” Manuel said, “before . . . anyway, she told me her father had given it to her, and his father had given it to him. She said it was a special book, but I never actually read it. It seemed too babyish for me, with the big type and pictures. I only read science books, usually.” He paused, grinning slightly in embarrassment. “But when I saw this symbol on your shirt yesterday—”

  “My shirt?” Levi said, surprised.

  “Yes, it was on the back of your shirt, and hers too. I remembered it and so—”

  “My shirt had a Tony Hawk design on it,” Levi said.

  Manuel’s eyes, already large behind his thick glasses, got even larger. “Perhaps I was imagining it. I’m so sorry.” He shoved the book back in his satchel and got up to leave.

  “Wait,” Xavier said. Levi and Evan glared at him. Xavier leaned in to talk to them in a softer voice. “He saw the Crest, same as us.”

  “But it wasn’t on my shirt,” Levi said.

  “He still saw it. So he must know. I mean, maybe he’s meant to know about it. He’s got the book too. We should tell him.”

  “But he wasn’t called,” Levi said.

  “Maybe that’s our job,” Xavier replied. Levi didn’t respond.

  Manuel was still standing by the picnic table, holding his satchel, looking at them awkwardly.

  “Sit down, Manuel,” Xavier said. “We need to—tell you something.”

  “Tell me what?” Manuel sat down eagerly, leaning in.

  “What you saw,” Xavier said slowly, searching for the right words, “was the Crest of Ahoratos.”

  “A . . . crest?”

  “Ahoratos, from that book you have. It’s a real place. And we’ve been there.”

  “Really?” Manuel’s eyes got big as saucers. He pulled a notebook out of his satchel and began writing things down. The kids went on to tell him all that had happened in Ahoratos, about Ruwach, even about Tannyn. After a while Manuel stopped writing and just listened, trying to absorb all this information, not sure if he could really believe it or not.

  “You’re not—putting me on, are you?” he asked when they were done.

  Evan wrinkled his nose. “Putting you on? Like a jacket or something?”

  “It’s an expression,” Manuel said, blushing again. “My mom . . .” He didn’t finish. There was an awkward silence.

  “It’s
okay. My mom has weird expressions too,” Evan said, trying to be kind.

  “Sorry about your mom,” Levi said.

  Manuel shrugged.

  “Maybe you should come with us,” Levi said. “Next time we go. I mean, if you need proof—”

  “If we go,” Xavier said. “What if we don’t get called again?”

  “We still need to get our swords,” Evan said. “And shields.”

  “And helmets,” Levi said.

  “But how can we get back there?” Brianna asked.

  “Ruwach came to us when we were asleep,” Evan said.

  “I wasn’t asleep,” Levi said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Sure I’m sure! We saw the crest over Landon’s head and we grabbed it––”

  “You grabbed it?” Manuel repeated.

  “Bean and me.”

  “Bean?” Manuel’s eyes narrowed, and he pushed his glasses up his nose.

  Levi pointed at Brianna. She rolled her eyes.

  “Perhaps I could create a computer model of the Crest,” Manuel said. “Like a 3-D simulation. Then we could all—”

  “Jump into the computer screen?” Xavier said, snickering. “Seriously?”

  Manuel’s face fell. “It was just an idea.”

  “Maybe if you made a hologram projection, like they do in that show Jet Force,” Levi began. He knew about Manuel’s penchant for science projects. He figured if anyone could do it, Manuel could.

  “I’d have to develop a program,” Manuel said. “It would take time––”

  Evan broke in. “Or you could just go over and try to get Landon to start bullying you again, then maybe the Crest will show up.”

  “Evan!” Brianna said, flicking him lightly with her finger in the back of his head. Her lips were pursed. Evan was stunned by all the glitter.

  “What are you kids up to?”

  They all jumped. Mr. J. Ar stood before them, arms folded over his barrel chest, his expression very stern. They all fell silent, not wanting to meet his eyes. Maybe they weren’t supposed to talk about Ahoratos—maybe he was going to scold them. It sure looked like it.

  Then Mr. J. Ar broke into a grin. “Gotcha.”

  Evan laughed. “You got us.” They all breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I figured you kids were trying to figure out how to get back to Ahoratos,” Mr. J. Ar said.

  “How’d you know?” Xavier asked.

  “Because that’s what my friends and I always used to do too,” said Levi’s father with a laugh. He leaned down over them, resting his fists on the table.

  “Did you ever figure it out?” Brianna asked.

  Mr. J. Ar shook his head. “Well, there was a way I learned. But I don’t think I’ll tell you. I’ll let you figure that out on your own.” He paused, chuckling. “Don’t worry—you’ll go back. In the meantime, anyone up for a game of b-ball?”

  “I am!” Xavier said.

  “Me too!” said Evan.

  “Me three,” Brianna said.

  Levi looked at her. “Really? Won’t it mess up your hair?”

  Brianna’s gaze narrowed. “You afraid I’ll beat you?”

  Evan snickered. Xavier elbowed him.

  “I’m in,” said Levi, although he gazed longingly at his skateboard.

  Mr. J. Ar looked over at Manuel.

  “Oh, I’m terrible at sports,” said Manuel, waving his hands in the air. “No hand-eye coordination, apparently. Plus, I have asthma. And look!” He pointed to the sky, which was clouding over quickly. “I think it’s going to rain soon anyway.”

  “That’s weird. It was perfectly sunny a minute ago,” Brianna said, looking up at the sky with a frown.

  “It’s not raining yet,” Mr. J. Ar said. “We’ve got time for a game.”

  “I don’t know . . .” said Manuel.

  “Come on,” Evan said with a laugh. “We’ll go easy on you, promise.”

  * * *

  Manuel stood near the basket while the other kids ran around the court dribbling and passing the ball. Every once in a while someone passed him the ball, and he threw it at the basket. He missed by a mile. But he didn’t seem to mind. It was sort of fun. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had invited him to play a game. He usually stayed in his room, by himself, working on his experiments and inventions. It was just easier than dealing with other kids, because they always thought he was too weird.

  His dad made him go to the Rec. His dad taught summer courses at the local college and didn’t like Manuel being all alone in the house, especially since he almost burned it down once in a science experiment gone wrong.

  “It was just a small explosion,” he had told his father when he came home. “I only singed the curtains a bit.” His father had been less than understanding.

  So now Manuel was doomed to spend the rest of his summer at the Rec, being tormented by bullies and otherwise ignored. He’d been counting the days until school started—five more to go! But now, all of a sudden, he had some friends. All because of that awful mummy incident.

  “Yo, Manuel, you’re up!” Xavier dribbled around Levi’s flailing arms and passed the ball to Manuel. He caught it, the force of the ball nearly knocking the wind of out him. “Throw!”

  Manuel saw Evan coming for him. He panicked, looked up, and threw the ball into the air underhanded. It went through the net—the wrong way, in the bottom and out the top.

  Evan and Levi fell down laughing. Xavier caught the ball and gave Manuel a gentle knock on the shoulder. “You just need to practice, dude.”

  Manuel smiled—but his smile faded when he saw who had just come into view.

  Landon sauntered across the court and sat down on the bench along the side. He was alone, no gang of bullies backing him up. Manuel had never seen him alone before. Landon’s menacing eyes bored holes in Manuel’s stomach.

  “Hey, guys, I think I’m going to go in now,” Manuel said. He was having a hard time breathing. “It’s just my asthma. I need to get my inhaler.” As if in answer to his dilemma, a drop of rain fell on his glasses. He wiped the lens and squinted, glancing up. Dark clouds were rolling across the sky, gobbling up the last bit of blue.

  “Oh, look, it’s raining anyway. We should go in. Shouldn’t we?”

  “It’s not raining that hard,” said Evan.

  “Besides, you can’t leave in the middle of a game!” said Levi.

  “Well, I . . . I really don’t think . . .” Manuel stuttered, backing away from the court. Levi followed his gaze and saw Landon sitting there on the sidelines, watching. He nodded, understanding.

  “Don’t worry, my dad is here. Landon’s not going to try anything.”

  Xavier dribbled the ball a couple of times, but before he could shoot, Mr. J. Ar blew his whistle and put his hands out for the ball. Xavier bounced it to him. Manuel breathed a sigh of relief—perhaps they were going in after all. More fat raindrops were falling, making splotches on the court.

  But then Mr. J. Ar turned to Landon. “Hey, Landon. You want to play?”

  The four kids froze.

  “What?” Manuel whispered, his knees actually knocking together.

  “Come on,” Mr. J. Ar continued, ignoring the trepidation he was causing in Manuel.

  “Dad, we really don’t want him in the game,” Levi whispered hoarsely.

  “If he plays, I’m not playing,” Evan said. “He’ll play dirty and probably kill us.”

  Landon stood up, as if to accept the invitation. The boys tensed. Then Landon waved them off, shook his head, and shuffled away.

  Manuel’s shoulders relaxed, and he breathed a little easier. Maybe he wouldn’t need his inhaler after all. The danger seemed to have passed.

  “Come on, let’s play,” shouted Evan.

  A loud boom of thunder
clapped overhead. All the kids jumped, startled.

  Mr. J. Ar looked up. “Looks like a storm coming through,” he said.

  “I knew it,” said Manuel eagerly. “We should really go inside. Deadly lightning strikes are 22 percent more common during outdoor sports activities . . .”

  Heavy dark clouds were swiftly rolling in. Everything around them got dark very suddenly, like a giant shade had been pulled across the sky. Another loud crash of thunder. A gust of wind caught them unawares, snatching the ball from Mr. J. Ar’s hands. It bounced over to Manuel, who managed to catch it before it got away. He held onto it tightly as another gust of wind nearly knocked him over.

  Mr. J. Ar blew his whistle. “Everyone in!” he yelled as lightning streaked through the dark clouds above. Rain splattered onto the basketball court. With another huge crack of thunder the clouds seemed to split open, pouring down rain from a celestial bucket.

  Mr. J. Ar trotted off the court, corralling the kids into the building. Xavier, Evan, Levi, Brianna, and Manuel followed quickly. The girls on the volleyball court and the kids playing kickball scurried into the building, covering their heads.

  Once inside the Rec most of the kids went straight into the gym to resume their games. Others sat down at tables and started making lanyards and doing crafts. Miss Stanton scurried around passing out the art supplies, trying to get all the kids settled in some activity to keep them occupied. Levi, Xavier, Evan, and Brianna sat together at a table and pulled out their phones once more to try and figure out how to work the app.

  Manuel opened his satchel and pulled out his inhaler, although he didn’t really need it. He stood near the door, leaning against the wall, hoping to just stay out of everyone’s way. The rain pounded hard on the roof, lashing the windows. He turned to look out the small window in the door and saw that Landon was still standing by the fence, not making any move to take shelter. He was just staring at the rain, getting drenched, oblivious to the lightning and thunder.

  Manuel’s gaze drifted to the rain pounding the basketball court. Cloudbursts were fairly common this time of year, but still—there was something very odd and unsettling about this particular storm. The puddles on the court were filling up very fast—nearly the entire basketball court was already underwater. That seemed highly unusual.